turn-based strategy

“We have been beaten back by our land, threatened by our own people, and yet we have persevered. We have overcome all odds and have arrived here, to our new home.” Those are the words that greeted me when I first began Civilization: Beyond Earth. The upcoming PC title is the spiritual successor of Alpha Centauri and a natural evolution of the series. It’s like Civ but it’s not. The concepts and ideas learned from Civilization V won’t necessarily work on a harsh alien planet.

That’s what I discovered in the first 50 turns or so of Beyond Earth, and it was the first of many mistakes I realized in my play session. Originally, I planned on going through the first 100 turns of the campaign, but unfortunately, a parade of misfortunes wrecked my city and forced me on a second try. Between those two playthroughs, here’s what I learned:Continue Reading →

Talked about in hushed tones and bated breath, the original X-COM is one of those games that everyone raves about but few have actually played. It’s credited with inspiring several other video games, so I’ve probably played titles that owe a debt to Mythos Games and MicroProse’s masterpiece.

It’s like enjoying Spec Ops: The Line and vaguely hearing of this book called Heart of Darkness. But recently, I got to see what the fuss was about (kind of). Firaxis and and 2K Games invited me over this week to check out XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Not to be confused with the shooter by 2K Marin, this is a turn-based strategy game that hews closest to the original.